Stereotypes of Black Male Athletes on the Internet

Abstract

This study questions to what extent Internet discourse in the form of articles and readers responses on personal feature stories about professional black male athletes challenge or reinforce traditional racial stereotypes. Using data collected from the homepage of ESPN.com over the span of a constructed week in late 2008, the analysis shows that online articles portrayed athletes to be violent, irresponsible, unable to resist social temptations, and to be guilty of crimes. However, the articles did not reference the race of the athlete in the text. Instead, the commentary provided by readers through Internet posts discussed racial stereotypes by debating the significance of race in the articles.